A response from my congressman:
Thank you for writing to express your opinions regarding our freedom of speech. It is always a pleasure to hear from the constituents whom I represent.
It is important for us all to be able to exercise our constitutional rights without fear of persecution, especially in times of war. The freedom to say what you believe is one of the building blocks of our country and is a large part of what makes this country great. Please be assured that I will always support a person’s freedom of speech.
Once again, thank you for contacting my office regarding this important issue. Please feel free to contact me in the future with any other concerns.
Sincerely,
Solomon P. Ortiz
Member of Congress
In other words, “I sent something back to you, so leave me alone.”
Thats a lot of words to say nothing.
Comment by jerry — March 31, 2005 @ 7:16 pm
Hey, I support his right to say nothing! :>]
Comment by Wallace-Midland, Texas — March 31, 2005 @ 10:21 pm
“Thats a lot of words to say nothing.”
But NOT a lot of effort. That looks suspiciously like a recycled form letter. I hazard a guess that the qualifier “especially in times of war” is completely out of context as a response to Bunker’s letter. (Bunker, feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.) But it’s a necessary element of FORM LETTER 103-J: Response to People Concerned About Their Free Speech Rights. Since the loonies on the left are always screaming about how the war is being used as an excuse to stop them from screaming about the war, you have to include this clause, so they feel like you’re talking to their concerns.
I’ll hazard another guess: Bunker’s message and this response were handled by a low-level staffer, and never got within eyeball distance of Congressman Ortiz.
Comment by UML Guy — April 1, 2005 @ 11:07 am
…especially in times of war
Absolutely right. It was the first thing to catch my eye as well.
Actually, he doesn’t have any low-level staffers. To my knowledge, he has two people working in his office. Of course, that allows him to pay them very well because he can’t even get close to the staff cap. With the number of people he has in DC with him, neither he nor they can hope to digest all the legislative text that comes through the office. He simply follows the lead of his Democratic leadership. I write to him only to let him know some of us actually watch what he does.
Comment by Bunker — April 1, 2005 @ 2:04 pm
Bunker et al: You expected maybe eloquence from an ex-constable, ex-Sheriff, with no college degree?
And people wonder why our part of South Texas gets no respect?
It’s interesting how the Caller Times and the other local media present this particular Congresscritter as “the man who saved the Coastal Bend Navy bases”, when the truth is that since Newt’s Revolution in 1994, as a Democrat Ortiz has only the tiny crumbs of power that the GOP deigns to toss his way.
Cornyn and Hutchinson will save the Texas Navy, if anybody can, in next month’s BRAC. Ortiz’s influence is down around nada.
In 2006 we need a real GOP congressial candidate in there for our 27th District, and not ol’ Willie from Portland. We need someone eloquent, educated, preferably (to me) a war hero, a person of any race or sex, who is also accomplished in another field that is not education.
Face it folks — being a local Sheriff isn’t much training for Congress.
And it shows.
Comment by Nekultura — April 1, 2005 @ 9:26 pm